Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. This is a stunning example of an M1916 Stahlhelm helmet used during the First World War and utilized shortly after the war by a member of the Freikorps, a group of loosely affiliated paramilitary organizations which were ostensibly mustered to fight on behalf of the government against the German communists attempting to overthrow the Weimar Republic. However, many Freikorps also largely despised the Republic and were involved in assassinations of its supporters.

The helmet is painted on the left side under the ventilation lug with a black & white shield, a well-known insignia painted on helmets of the Freikorps. The paint has an age & wear consummate with the rest of the helmet, so we are confident in its authenticity. 

The helmet shell still has both the dome headed chinstrap retaining rivets, which hold the interior pickelhaube style chin strap lugs in place. It also retains both of the extended ventilation side lugs, which are the correct stepped version for size 64 shells. This would ensure proper installation of a Stirnpanzer brow plate regardless of shell size.

The interior of the helmet still retains the original later pattern liner, made using three leather "panels" attached to a steel liner band (early versions used a leather band). The band is in good condition, and is held in place by original split pins, including the correct thicker rear pin. The pins on this example show some heavy oxidation. This example was modified during the late 1910s or early 1920s with three new liner pads with perforated holes and without pillows. The three pads are lined by a small leather string which is well-retained. The chinstrap is also still present, and is in good shape with the leather still mostly pliable, although the metal fittings have become heavily oxidized. The liner band also has this heavy oxidation, with much more in the helmet dome. Overall the liner and chin strap are in rather delicate condition, so they should be handled with caution.

This shell has a very faint maker stamp in the usual spot, but it is so faint that letters or numbers cannot be made out. The stepped lugs narrow the size down to 60, 62, or 64, however it is more likely either 62 or 64, as the shell isn’t terribly small like 60s we have seen. There is also a name written above the liner band, Schíll, likely the Freikorps soldier who wore this.

This is a gorgeous period-modified M16 Stahlhelm utilized by the infamous Freikorps, made up of German soldiers who couldn’t face returning to civilian life after the end of the war. Comes ready for further research and display.

In the aftermath of World War I and during the German revolution of 1918–1919, Freikorps units consisting largely of World War I veterans were raised as paramilitary militias. They were armed with the rifles they had returned with from the front; infantry and cavalry units also had machine guns and mortars. While exact numbers are difficult to determine, it is estimated that some 500,000 men were formal Freikorps members with another 1.5 million participating informally.

In the early days of the German revolution, the Council of the People's Deputies, the revolutionary government led by Friedrich Ebert of the Social Democratic Party, needed reliable troops in Berlin to protect its position. In consultation with the Army High Command (OHL), the Council reached an agreement to form the voluntary Freikorps units. Most of their members were anti-communist monarchists who saw no clear future in the revolutionary Germany that they had returned home to. They did not fight in support of the revolutionary government or the Weimar Republic after it was formed, but against its enemies from the political left, who they saw as Germany's enemies.

Freikorps units suppressed the Marxist Spartacist uprising and were responsible for the extrajudicial executions of revolutionary communist leaders Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg on 15 January 1919. The Freikorps also fought in the Baltic against Soviet Russia and were instrumental in putting down the Munich Soviet Republic, the Ruhr uprising and the Third Silesian uprising. The Kapp Putsch of March 1920, a failed attempt to overthrow the government of the Weimar Republic, drew its military support from the Freikorps, in particular the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt. It was after the failure of the Kapp Putsch, and under Allied pressure to keep both Germany's official and unofficial military forces at the 100,000 man limit, that the Freikorps were officially disbanded in the spring of 1920. Some Freikorps members were then accepted into the Reichswehr, Germany's official army, but more joined the Stormtroopers (SA), illegal far right formations such as the Organisation Consul, or groups such as the Stahlhelm that were associated with political parties.